Published on 11/9/2006

And so we're discussing spiritual warfare these days, specifically the origin of Satan. We've looked at Isaiah 14. The other passage which seems to relate to the question is Revelation 12. Nearly the entire chapter is relevant to our discussion, and will cause today's essay to be a bit longer than usual.

Commentary

As you know, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was replaced yesterday by Robert Gates. Changes in Washington may continue in the aftermath of Tuesday's party shifts. Mr. Rumsfeld has been criticized for underestimating the strength of the insurgency in Iraq. We don't want to make the same mistake with our souls.

"A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days" (Revelation 12:1-6).

In the context it seems that the pregnant woman is the mother of Jesus, and that the "red dragon" tried to kill our Savior. Many interpreters identify this statement with Herod's slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18).

Now things get interesting for our topic: "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him" (vs. 7-9).

With this consequence: "When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (vs. 13-17).

Again, all of this seems to be connected to the birth of Christ and the early church. Nothing in Revelation 12 describes a "fall of Satan" from heaven before time began. The text shows that Satan is a defeated foe. It offers no speculation as to his beginning. So what are we to understand about the origin of Satan? Let's continue tomorrow.